The Hollywood Sign, Brought to You by Hugh Hefner

From Wikipedia.Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner has donated the final $900,000 needed to save the Hollywood sign from extinction. According to NPR.com, the land on which the sign sits—once owned by Howard Hughes—“had been touted as a potential site for luxury homes or a posh new hotel. The developers offered to sell the 138 acres to the city, but the money had to be in hand this week.” To save the landmark, the Trust for Public Land, a conservation group, needed to raise $12.5 million. Donations from Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Aileen Getty, Norman Lear, and studios such as Sony, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros. put T.P.L. just $1 million short. Enter: Hugh Hefner. “We want to thank the thousands of donors worldwide who so generously helped us, and we owe a particular thanks to Hugh Hefner, who stepped forward at the end to close the final gap,” said the president of the conservation group. Governor Arnold Schwarzengger was also appreciative: “I am proud we were able to come together and create a public-private partnership to protect this historic symbol that will continue to welcome dreamers, artists and Austrian bodybuilders for generations to come.” Hugh Hefner: a worthy Audubon Magazine centerfold.